Behind Creative Collision

Mist

Cai Guo Qiang'sEndless presents a poetic collision of culture. However, without the bang and boom of other cultural advents such as the symbolic collision of 911, this installation shows two types of traditional boats (Chinese and Middle Eastern) lost in a mist. The encounter is sombre and the inherent stillness of the mist infects the piece.

The ephemeral and anti-stability theme is explored by many Chinese artists. Just today, at the Auckland Art Gallery I saw a series of photographs by Song Dong which spoke a similar language. A Pot of Boiling Water contained elements of performance art, as Dong pours boiling water from a kettle onto an old street of Beijing - the steam is temporal and the words written fade to the stability of stone.